Guides

Tahiti, honestly explained

Researched guides on the lagoon, the whale season and the things nobody puts in a brochure.

Aerial view of a green headland with a small lookout platform and a pale track leading to it, a turquoise lagoon, a white line of reef break and deep blue ocean beyond

A Cruise Day in Papeete and Moorea: You Walk Off in One and Tender In to Nothing in the Other

Papeete's terminal puts you in the middle of town on foot. Moorea has no cruise berth at all — ships anchor and tender to a village pier with no town behind it. What that means for booking a shore day, in both ports.

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Six travellers standing on wet rock in front of a waterfall dropping down a dark basalt cliff into a shallow pool, dense green vegetation on both sides

Around Tahiti Nui: 114 Kilometres, a Numbering System Instead of Addresses, and the Half of the Island the Road Never Reaches

The ring road circles the big half of Tahiti in 114 km, and every address on it is a PK number counted from Papeete cathedral. What a 4.5-hour circle tour actually stops at, what is free to visit anyway, and why Tahiti Iti has no loop.

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An open-sided four-wheel-drive truck on a red dirt track climbing through green hills, two deep blue bays visible below

Moorea by 4WD: the Free Belvédère, the Private Road to Magic Mountain, and Eight Tours Carrying 565 Reviews

The Belvédère is a public lookout you can drive to in a hire car. Magic Mountain is a private track with a 200 XPF toll and a hut at the bottom. What the four-hour 4WD tour actually covers, who it turns away, and when to take the six-hour one instead.

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A white passenger ferry with an open upper deck crossing calm water, the green ridgeline of an island low on the horizon behind it

Moorea as a Day Trip from Tahiti: the Ferry, the Timetable and the One Day You Should Not Try It

Four companies cross to Moorea, the fastest boat takes 30 minutes and the slowest 50. Saturday has a three-hour hole in the timetable that catches day trippers out. What the crossing costs, when to go and when to stay a night instead.

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Snorkellers in clear shallow turquoise water above pale sand, several dark-tipped reef sharks and a stingray moving between them

Rays and Reef Sharks in the Moorea Lagoon: What Is Allowed, What Is Not, and Why the Rules Exist

Standing waist-deep among stingrays and blacktip sharks is one of the most booked things on Moorea. Feeding them has been illegal everywhere since 2017 and touching them is banned by the operators themselves. What that means for the tour you book.

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A large colonial-style building in cream and red with three tiers of white verandas and a clock tower, palm trees and a lawn in front of it

Papeete in a Day: the Market That Shuts at Ten on Sunday, the Roulottes That Open at Six, and a Two-Hour Walk Between Them

The municipal market opens at 4 am on Sunday and is closed by 10. The food trucks on the waterfront do not start until evening. Between those two hours sits the city, and a €50.96 walking tour that gets you into the buildings.

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Two open-backed white safari trucks standing axle-deep in a shallow river, passengers with their arms in the air, a tall waterfall falling down the green valley wall behind them

The Papenoo Valley by 4WD: One Track Into Tahiti's Interior, an 800-Metre Tunnel, and Why the Guides Exist

Tahiti's only road across the island's middle was built for hydroelectric dams, not for tourists. What the seven-hour Papenoo run covers, what the price does not include, and who the operator turns away.

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A humpback whale glides through deep blue open water, three snorkellers floating far above it just below the surface

Swimming with Humpback Whales off Tahiti: the Four Months, the Six Swimmers and the Rules That Changed

The season runs 20 July to 20 November and nothing outside those dates is legal. Since December 2024 only licensed operators may approach, six people may be in the water at once, and swimming inside lagoons and passes is banned. What to ask before you pay €250.

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A snorkeller crouches on the pale sand floor of a shallow lagoon beside a stingray, with one large and one small fish in the clear turquoise water

Tahiti with Children: the Age Limits Operators Actually Publish, and the Four-Hour Boat with No Toilet

Under one year old rules out more tours in our inventory than any other single condition. One island tour will not run for fewer than four guests. And the glass-bottom boat is the only water trip in the inventory that says outright it suits non-swimmers. The practical detail, from the booking pages.

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Two people wade through knee-deep clear turquoise water, a low palm-covered motu on the horizon under white clouds

Tetiaroa by Catamaran: an Eleven-Hour Day, a Reef You Cross in a Dinghy, and One Motu Nobody May Land On

Marlon Brando's atoll is 50 km north of Tahiti and has no pass a big boat can enter. The day starts at a green gate in Papeete at 5.45 am and ends eleven hours later. What is included, who the operator turns away, and why the bird island stays off limits.

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